Arraignment Delayed

December 7, 2005A family emergency with a defense attorney pushes back the arraignment for two former Greenbrier High School football players. These are the events that led up to the charges.

Reggie Rice and Shad Harris are accused of aggravated molestation and contributing to the delinquency of a minor. Add a rape charge to that for Rice and you have a case that puts teens and sex in the spotlight.

Reginald Rice and Shadrick Harris were indicted back in October on three counts of contributing to the delinquency of a minor. Police say the teenagers gave alcohol to three girls under the age of sixteen. Harris is also charged with three counts of aggravated child molestation and Rice with one for what the indictments describe as acts of sodomy with underage girls. Rice is also facing a rape charge.

“I hope the parents in this community have a wakeup call. All you have to do when you leave home or if you are going to have a party, monitor what’s going on,” Judge Wheale said.

Presiding Judge Duncan Wheale can’t comment on an open case. But he calls the kinds of actions alleged in the indictment appalling. The police report from October 17th says after they became intoxicated, Rice asked one of the girls if she wanted to have sex, and she said no twice. Later the indictment says she appeared to be unconscious and Rice then laid on top of the girl and took her pants off.

“Obviously, you’re dealing with more than one person, you’re dealing with many stories, a lot of evidence we need to collect, so taking a couple of weeks is not out of the ordinary,” Captain Steve Morris said.

The two were arrested about a month after the original report in September. About two hundred people turned up to show support when they were released on bond several days later.

“We wanted to show our feelings for him and show everyone what we really think,” one supporter said.

The terms are a nightly curfew and a limit on when they can leave their houses.

“You just can’t begin to understand the seriousness of these consequences, they are with you for life,” Judge Wheale said.

Regardless to the outcome of this case, Judge Wheale urges parents to pay close attention to what their children are doing.

Reggie Rice will appear in court Thursday morning to enter his plea, followed by a pretrial motion hearing. His attorney will try to get his charged of aggravated child molestation dropped and amend the terms of his bond. The date for Shad Harris to appear has not been rescheduled

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